1. Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to control of a mobile device and more particularly relates to remotely controlling a mobile communications device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communications devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. The use of mobile telephones has become nearly universal. Other mobile devices such as mobile gaming devices, mobile media player devices, electronic readers (“e-readers”), and the like also routinely include communications functions. These communications functions can provide access to wireless data networks for browsing the Internet or accessing email and can provide mobile telephone device functionality such as voice calling and text messaging.
There are many situations where one person provides a mobile communications device for another person's use. For example, many parents provide mobile telephones or other mobile communications devices to their children. This provides a convenient manner for parents and children to communicate and has safety benefits for the children. Many employers also provide various mobile communications devices to employees to facilitate communication with the employees and to improve productivity.
When a supervisory entity such as a parent or employer provides a mobile communications device to another user, such as a child or an employee, the supervisory entity may wish to place certain restrictions on the use of the mobile communications device. For example, the supervisory entity may want to ensure that the other user responds to communications from the supervisory entity, that the other user does not exceed certain usage limits, or that the other user uses the mobile communications device for certain purposes. Traditionally, if the other user refuses to abide by restrictions set by the supervisory entity, the supervisory entity's primary option to enforce the restrictions is to take back the mobile communications device from the other user.
Other options exist, such as to suspend payment to the network carrier, following which the carrier may discontinue service to the mobile communications device. Alternatively, in the corporate enterprise context, an IT services group may be able to disable certain functions of the mobile communications device such as access to the corporate enterprise email server. In each of these contexts, however, re-enabling the discontinued services involves a time-consuming or otherwise inefficient process. For example, the mobile communications device's user may be required to contact a customer support center, follow a series of steps, and/or otherwise fulfill multiple requirements before services are resumed.